MotorBoater

The beginning - A cautionary tale Well here we are, July 10th., we are booked to pick up the boat at 3pm. We got to Stalham well early so spent a couple of hours driving around Stalham Staithe, Sutton, Potter Heigham to view from the landside. Back to Richardsons 2.50pm and slotted into the queue. Things were proceeding quite quickly and it was soon our turn to board. I went over the boat with the trial run driver who skipped the trial run because we had been there in March. A slight worry because we hadn't been on Glistening Horizon 2 before but we were keen to be gone so having been all over the boat we unloaded the car and were eventually able to join the stream of boats getting out aprox. 3.45pm. I had remembered to change our contact details because on the way up I had discovered that I had left my mobile in the kitchen at home so I gave the number of my son's mobile that we like him to carry so that we can check where he is. I should have realised then that maybe not everything would be quite as planned ! Barton Broad was surprisingly quiet given how many boats had left Richardsons. A sedate cruise down the Ant followed and it quickly became evident that GH 2 had a mind all of her own, although behaving very well on turns and mooring it was all but impossible to steer a straight line, for the entire 10 day holiday ! The stern was determined to get where we were going before the bow ! It was however much better later on, a couple of times we were going against the tide. We aimed to go south for the first few days so thought Acle would be a good aiming point for the first night having worked out that we needed to be at Great Yarmouth between 8.30 and 9.30am. Ludham bridge was incredibly busy and we were hoping this was not an example of what was to come but in the event we went straight through having hit it (Not literally) just right, with nothing coming the other way. The traffic thinned slightly as many people seemed relieved to have made it that far and moored up. We carried on to Acle, chuffed to bits to be back on the water, and thoroughly enjoying the ride. Unfortunately that was where the wheels fell off, or more accurately - the wife. I mentioned sometime ago a "daffy" wife and a son with an autistic condition. In my wife's case this relates to delayed treatment for a thyroid condition, some years ago, which affected her head. She has good days and bad days and I'm never sure which is coming. This was not one of the good ones although it started well enough. Bear in mind I went over the usual safety warnings while unloading the car including the recent fatality in Norwich where a man had fallen overboard, thinking this might concentrate the mind a bit. As I coasted in to moor, some way short of the Pedro moorings, with one eye on my son at the stern rope out of the corner of the other I saw my wife jump on to the bank and promptly spring backwards, landing between boat and bank. It turns out she was wearing cork-soled wedgie sandals, - and no lifejacket. Having gone a week in March with no problems it took just a couple of hours this time to test our mortality. She went completely under, hanging on to the bow rope. It took the best part of 15 minutes to get her out as the bank was quite high and at this point I would like to apologise to the guy shouting from about 100yds away, if he should ever read this, as the effort required, with my COPD, left me doubled up with barely enough oxygen to breathe let alone answer back. The water is indeed freezing and it took a couple of hours for her to stop shivering, some of that due to shock no doubt. I have included this tale not for the benefit of the more experienced members but as a warning to new members who have recently posted as new to the broads. My wife admits it was entirely her own fault as she should have stepped not jumped ashore, she should have been wearing the boat shoes bought specially for our boating holidays - or even trainers would have been better, and she should have been wearing her lifejacket ! Not many pics to start with, my mind was elsewhere, a good one of George, my son, at the helm. He's taken to it very well indeed. More of the tale to follow, including George trying, and only just failing, to match his mother's antics.

I am reminded of an episode locally where Ronald attempted to open in a small town near me and were stoutly resisted by the local citizens - for 20 plus years. They never give up and you have no idea what is going on behind the scenes. Eventually a pub closed and as it already had a food license Ronald snapped it up, along with it's huge carpark, and there was at last nothing the residents could do. Jokes now are all very well but you might be crying into your Latte at some point ! I realise footfall is important but Ronald versus RSPB at Berney might make for an interesting battle !

Land of My Fathers. There appears more than one translation in english, which probably doesn't matter a tinkers if you are welsh. - No I'm not.

Fine pictures indeed, had a laugh at what looks like Glistening Horizon 2 with a mast through the roof at South Walsham, hope Richardsons don't think I installed a temporary modification. Do you use filters on that lens of yours ? Try as I might I can't get cloud pics like yours. We got back home on Monday, still got the fidgets, can't settle to sort out our record of the trip !

I'm all for seeing the best of things - while preparing for the worst !

Yes, well, thanks for the memory AB - not ! Last time this happened I had a medium sized hardware store with around 140,000 lines. We had customers arguing for reductions across everything, even though most items carried full rate of VAT some like bags of coal had reduced rate and many had no VAT at all. Changing that lot, knowing it would all have to be changed back again, tested our patience to the limit. I can well imagine the usual Norfolk bonhomie getting stretched a bit, temporarily of course ! I imagine everyone will think these changes are instantaneous and, of course, the only query that matters is their own. Obviously I hope that the customers who have poured (?) out of the boatyards this week will rebook but I do wonder if this reduction will benefit the airlines and ferries more. An awful lot of people "Follow the sun". "Eat out to help out" is of no interest to me. As an "At risk" my health comes first. £10 is hardly compensation for 10-20 years off my life, or anyone elses.

From Richardsons boat details, you may have missed it. "Will not pass under Potter Heigham, Beccles, Wroxham, Wayford and Thorpe Railway bridges. The boat requires 8ft 6in clearance on all other bridges at low water only."

I'm still more interested in the odds of getting through Wroxham or Potter Higham Bridges unscathed.

Just for fun I counted the large and medium boats in HW a few weeks ago. At a, probably, not very accurate average of £100,000 there was around £6,500,000 just sitting there, plus the smaller boats. Whatever the flak, if any, someone is sleeping better tonight that's for sure. There is only around 25 left tonight, I wonder how many will go out tomorrow.

Well another day has dawned and I wish I could say I feel differently but I don't really. There is however one bright spot on the horizon. I haven't yet had the pleasure of meeting any members yet but following MM's urging to "Give it a try" can I please request a demo on showering in bleach to make sure I get it right ? Only joking ! Money is king, when does a greenhouse become a "Pod" ? A greenhouse is still a greenhouse even sitting outside a "Pub". The pub companies are trying to protect their dividends, not do us any favours. I'm not saying no-one should frequent these places, just don't kid yourself it is anything like what has gone before. If the virus is always going to be with us then the traditional pub environment, and the associated social norms, is dead. Picture two or three of you who do know each other being in the same place, having been met at the door, pointed to tables 30 feet apart to maintain your bubble, eyes glued to a smart phone to order. The guys can't meet at the bar and the spouses can't get together for a right royal chinwag. fancy a meal ? Get shown outside to an empty greenhouse, no communication with a friend next door. Nice meal, no ambience. If that's your thing, fine, I just can't call it a "Pub" as I know it. If I do ever get to meet any of you it will be on the river, or bank, with an ambience all of it's own. Vaughan, great picture by the way. Keith

In my younger days I would call at my local, meet up with friends, put the world to rights, decide who was going to win the league (This would be in August !) and generally just whileaway a few hours a couple of nights a week. Happy days ! I survived the plasticisation of the pubs, the gastro-pubs and applauded the efforts of CAMRA and others. I haven't quite yet lost the will to live but this article on what amounts to the death of the long cherished pub traditions in this country is quite devastating. Good, bad or indifferent is neither here or there, it will not be the same. Is this what we have all been waiting for ? I have a mental picture of dressing up like a hospital doctor but going to a pub instead. The comment from a member of the Moss & Co management team says it all: “There definitely will be plenty of changes and it won’t be the pub as you used to know it.” Given the choice between paying over the odds to sit at a table (Inside or out, preferably out) on a lawn or deck, looking over my shoulder lest anyone gets too close, shivering at the sound of a cough, applying sanitiser every time I pick up my glass (Or maybe plastic beaker)..............or sitting moored away, in the cockpit or roof, with a bittern booming in the distance (If i'm lucky), geese flying overhead, water lapping at the hul, watching Tom Cobbley et al with glass to hand, I know where I'll be. I can see no reason for public houses anymore except for those genuinely providing local services like the Ferry at Stokesby with their new shop. You might think it would be useful to have all the yobs under one roof so as to keep an eye on them, but no-one does. Maybe it's the time of night but I haven't been this low since all this business started, roll on 10th. July, maybe the Broads breezes will blow the cobwebs away. But it won't be inside, or outside, a pub. Keith

Hopefully they are giving the pontoon camera a good clean. There has been a spiders web over the lens (Not evident daytime) for so long the tenant must be the size of a tea plate by now !

Finally got to watch 100th. video. Another excellent effort, and particularly well timed for us as we should be casting off from Richardsons on the 10th and we aim to head south for a few days before heading back north for the rest of it. The wife didn't appreciate the avatars, said they got in the way of the scenery. Thanks, for reminding us of what we are missing, and the inspiration to look forward to better times. Looking forward to you resuming normal service !

For anyone who has not yet been sucked into this supposed must-have. After the system update you will find Edge bursts into life and there seems to be no way to move on without installing the Edge update. If, like me, you intend to ignore it and continue with another preferred browser all you need to do is press CTRL + ALT + DELETE, select task manager, select Edge and then End Task. This kills the installation stone dead and you won't be bothered again. I am a long time anti-microsoft geek having distrusted the company even before they announced that Windows no longer had "bugs" but only "Issues" when replying to criticism of Windows 95 ! If you want out of it I suggest you go to settings, then apps, then default apps and change the web browser to your preference. As Grendel says you will probably have to reassign any file type changes back to what they were before, manually.

I've just read Vaughan's post on the idiot hirer thread. "3/. Please understand who is responsible for what. If you want to complain of uncivil behaviour then complain to the authorities, who are there to police it." What I am suggesting is that may be a clearer definition, and set of industry-wide rules would allow the authorities to take action earlier. Assuming there are enough of them to go round ! As I say, just asking.

It seems a well reasoned letter but a bit short on what they can actually do regarding anti-social behaviour. Is the authority able to withdraw or restrict licenses to hire dayboats, or cruisers if it comes to that, if an operator is seen to obviously ignore this behaviour ? Can they set limits on passenger group sizes ? This might give powers to rangers and Broads Beat to act immediately. Could they colour code boats (Or parts of boats) by company to make it obvious where a boat is from ? I don't know, just asking.

I nominate Puccy Galore, no-one will argue with her. (Spelling necessary to get around auto-edit)

I arrived at this issue from a totally different direction due to researching something else, MM, I can point you at OS Explorer (OL40) map which clearly labels the narrow neck as "The Weirs" as does other references, canalplan.org for instance is one. I have also found a reference to a place in New Hampshire, good ol' US of A, where in the 1800's they were constructing "Fish Weirs" in the narrow parts of rivers, or whatever. I'm no fisherman but as I understand it the weirs were used to control fish, both those they wanted, and those they didn't.

Mind boggling. I can see two major problems with all this. Firstly you have the default reaction of the animal rights fanatics whose default reaction is usually "It's your own fault, you shouldn't have upset the dog" Secondly, bearing in mind that not everybody has the size and weight of your average military policeman, what will your average six/seven stone alsation or rottweiler be doing while you are trying to pull his legs apart, stuff your fist down his throat (Without the benefit of inch thick gloves !) or hoping he keeps still long enough to get a knee anywhere near his chest. I can see why such advice normally doesn't make it to the public domain ! If a dogs mouth is too small for a fist perhaps a couple of fingers will do, so long as you don't need them for a few days. I have no idea of the average day in the life of an MP but I suspect he has a lot more experience of this than me. My sympathies to MW, no-one should expect that to happen, young lives have been lost in the past.

Are all the boatyards going to risk 3 months hard graft down the drain by having all hirers turn up at the same time ? Surely not. The initial hirings shouldn't be too much of a problem as the boats are in the yard so if the boats are ready they could start sending them out at 9 or 10am couldn't they ? After that I doubt it would take a fortnight to see if things are going wrong but fortunately that is up to the boatyards not me. For my part I shall be aiming to comply with whatever they ask of me. From Richardson's website: "If you are due to visit us, it is your responsibility to ensure you are following the UK Government’s most recent guidance on social distancing. We have put procedures into place to safeguard both our guests and team. You will be sent a series of e-mails prior to your arrival with further information regarding this, as well as important information regarding your trial run and Captain’s Manual. Please ensure you carefully read these e-mails prior to your arrival – they are important. Social distancing measures mean we have made significant changes to the way we check in – again, this information will be included in an e-mail sent to you prior to your arrival via e-mail." About two weeks to go.

Love it to bits Is this why the model-making is so successful ?

I am a bit puzzled by much of this and would appreciate a little help with how the forum guidance notes are usually interpreted, for future reference. Members are expressing opinions (Which may be the nub of the matter) whilst turning this way and that to avoid mentioning names, locations etc. in fact everything except occupation, apparently to avoid breaching forum TOS. I get that the first entry under Section 4 of the member guidance says: "Confidential information Forums members must not post confidential or other information that may infringe upon the privacy, proprietary or personal rights of others. This includes, but is not restricted to, personal telephone numbers, email and postal addresses. The NBN does not subscribe to 'naming and shaming'. i.e. pictures or descriptions of accidents where either the boats or people are recognisable." However since the individual referred to here was publicly named in the Norwich Evening News in 2010, along with the name of the pub, the village location and details of charges brought against him (At that time), the fact that he was discharged following legal argument, and other details of the overall case (Again, at that time), not to mention the TV docudrama, I don't see the point of the acrobatics performed on this thread. I can see that statements of opinion linked to the info may cause an issue but I have to say that there has already been enough said on this thread to entice me to research the program on the case, about which I knew absolutely nothing, and to discover the identity of the individual no-one will name, confirmed in a location I had already suspected, rubber-stamped by the Norwich Evening News - complete with photo. This newspaper story predates the issue that saw the individual prosecuted on the other matter that resulted in jail time but since it was a successful prosecution that should also be a matter of public record. I am not sure where he stands on any issues with the disclosure and barring service as yet, not well I suspect. I'm not out to act as some kind of devil's advocate, I just want to avoid (If I can) putting my foot in it at any time in the future, over anything else.

MailOnLine - timed at 23.18 today https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8443277/Hotels-B-Bs-allowed-reopen-two-weeks-Boris-Johnson-plans-staycation-boost.html It does say "Shared facilities" like campsites will have to wait a bit longer but while it can't be called official yet it seems hopeful. They suggest an announcement on tuesday which may be right as companies will need time to complete any work they have been doing to get ready.

Dave, glad you've taken the plunge, figuratively speaking. I'm another singing your praises. I've watched all your lockdown vids and your others too. Keeps me going !

Something like that, trouble is I find it occasionally, then lose it again ! It was easier to teach the wife english.